The ADVANCE/PAID Program at the University of Missouri Program will partners with and adapt successful ADVANCE Programs at the University of Michigan and New Mexico State University. The goals of the program are to educate STEM administrators and faculty about the impact of unconscious gender bias on women's advancement, to identify best practices in support of gender equity, and to establish a support and mentoring infrastructure for women in mid-career faculty positions.
Social science research shows that institutional structure and practice are major sustaining elements of the underrepresentation of women in faculty and leadership positions in STEM. Mizzou ADVANCE interventions target unconscious gender bias and faculty women's isolation, which are identified as primary mechanisms producing inequity. Research based on the interventions will contribute to understanding how educational outreach across STEM and reductions in faculty isolation affect institutional structure and how such strategies can be used to eliminate barriers to women's advancement.
This project helps establish the effectiveness and transferability of current ADVANCE interventions, thereby contributing to knowledge of institutional solutions that promote the advancement of women. It provides senior faculty with the skills, relationships, and climate that promote advancement, which, in turn, enhances the position of women in STEM at all ranks. It contributes to improving graduate education by involving graduate students in research activities that illustrate best practices concerning gender equity. Additional minority participation is included through involvement of STEM faculty from Lincoln University, an Historically Black College and University, in professional development workshops
